How the water you flush becomes the water you drink

How the water you flush becomes the water you drink - Francis de los Reyes

Рет қаралды 393,275

9 ай бұрын

Explore the science of wastewater treatment, and find out why water reuse has become increasingly common worldwide.
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In 2003, Singapore’s national water agency launched an unprecedented program to provide more than 50% of their nation’s water supply by recycling wastewater. The program had been planned for decades to ensure the island nation never ran out of clean water. But is it really safe to reuse anything we flush down the toilet? Francis de los Reyes explains the science of wastewater treatment.
Lesson by Francis de los Reyes, directed by JodyPrody, The Animation Workshop.
This video made possible in collaboration with Gates Ventures
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View full lesson: ed.ted.com/lessons/how-the-wa...
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Animator's website: jodyprody.com
Music: www.campstudio.co
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Пікірлер: 356

@elSethro 9 ай бұрын

My understanding from someone close to me who works in wastewater treatment is that disinfection (killing pathogens - bacteria/viruses) is no problem and removing particulate matter. But removal of pharmaceutical chemicals that we excrete is still a major challenge.

@logans3365 9 ай бұрын

Yup l, it’s not profitable to improve water treatment, so don’t expect anything other then the bare minimum under capitalism.

@misterauctor7353 9 ай бұрын

Forever chemicals?

@quanbrooklynkid7776 9 ай бұрын

Damn

@azlan194 9 ай бұрын

Is evaporation and condensation too slow/expensive to make it feasible for water treatment?

@moon_bandage 9 ай бұрын

@@azlan194yeah that's incredibly energy intensive, you're basically describing desalination

@zabuzafan100 9 ай бұрын

My husband has worked in wastewater treatment (reclamation) for over 25 years, and I have my operators license. It's surprising that people don't know that the water that they bath in, wash clothes in, and flush can and in some places does end up back in the tap. Called Toilet to Tap, it's a process of extreme filtering, biological, physical and and chemical treatment that makes water safe enough for reuse as drinking water. In places like Las Vegas, almost half of the water used in the valley is returned to wetlands and eventually flows to Lake Mead. The treated waste water is responsible for creating wildlife habitats that wouldn't normally have existed as well as combating the ever dropping levels of a lake that supplies water to much of the southwest.

@aliciac3123 9 ай бұрын

can we just appreciate how ted ed posts amazing videos for us so consistently? thank you!

@L17_8 9 ай бұрын

Jesus loves you ❤️ please turn to him and repent before it's too late. The end times described in the Bible are already happening in the world.

@hmzirqhazard1950 9 ай бұрын

@rodneyboehner3007 9 ай бұрын

Go drink some of my @$$ water, brah!!

@AngelSGG 9 ай бұрын

Plz stop commenting that to every channel

@Pauly421 9 ай бұрын

@@L17_8Go away weirdo.

@Chill-Ice 9 ай бұрын

As a Singaporean, I see this as an absolute win

@XwytreX 9 ай бұрын

Hi from Singapore! They actually mixed the NEWater with reservoir water because it is too clean and devoid of any minerals!

@okaydoubleu 9 ай бұрын

In Singapore, this type of water has a name, NEWater! The residents were skeptical initially but we are generally fine with it now.

@ghostderazgriz 9 ай бұрын

I imagine naming it NEWater only made the skepticism worse.

@minerxen 9 ай бұрын

@@ghostderazgriz it sounds suspicious but it's been extremely thoroughly researched on how to filter it. Like Reverse osmosis, etc (I remember only learning this at like primary school many years ago)

@kennyalale4904 9 ай бұрын

I'm sure it would take me a while to get used to literal 'Doo Doo water' too 😅

@azlan194 9 ай бұрын

They are also making money from this since they are buying wastewater from Malaysia very cheaply and selling back the treated water at a very high price.

@minerxen 9 ай бұрын

@@kennyalale4904not just that, where do you think the water astronauts drink in space come from?

@Echo81Rumple83 9 ай бұрын

We have a reverse osmosis filtration system for our drinking water at home since Sis and I were babies. Mom and Dad wanted to be sure we get the best, clean water that wouldn't harm us while growing up.

@astroboirap 9 ай бұрын

what a dope

@dragonpaws 9 ай бұрын

Too bad your parents weren't educated enough to understand that reverse osmosis water has no health benefits lmao

@d0fabur5st82 9 ай бұрын

Saw this video title and didn't want to know that. But now I have to watch for an explanation to ease my concern. Outstanding move Ted-Ed

@xxii_ix_xix_viii_xiv_xxi3889 9 ай бұрын

Simple and best explanation about wastewater treatment 😀

@mrboombastic_69420 9 ай бұрын

"Cloudy cocktail" 💀NAHHH

@davea6314 9 ай бұрын

"Flush twice it's a long way to the kitchen." was something someone said when I was a young boy in up-state New York

@freetousebyjtc 9 ай бұрын

Why is it a long way to the kitchen? English is not my first language so I don't think I understand this sentence

@danielthecake8617 9 ай бұрын

I speak native english and I still don't understand

@qamarat8366 9 ай бұрын

@@freetousebyjtc I think they're referring to how long of a journey waste water takes before it gets to your tap again (presumed to be the one in your kitchen).

@Agent-ie3uv 9 ай бұрын

People in Singapore are very skeptical on drinking NeWater but when officials explained, the recycled water was stored first in reservoir everyone was wiling to drink 🚽 water

@MohamadYoussef-jn7un 9 ай бұрын

Ted Ed keep answering these questions that we want to know but forget to search it! Thank you

@ahmedfareed4921 9 ай бұрын

I love this channel because it provides short, simple & useful graphical topics

@user-yo7eq2ii9i 9 ай бұрын

Just appreciate Ted Ed vids so much. I'm surprised that more areas don't do this already.

@lizlin5633 9 ай бұрын

Just appreciate Ted Ed vids so much

@joshchristopher551 9 ай бұрын

Thank you for the answer that I keep questioning in my head but have never tried to look up

@Proxicus 9 ай бұрын

I remember going to a water treatment plant; it has been over a decade and I have indeed read and watched documentaries about this issue. IT is really important to take climate change seriously and water filtration seriously. I covered this in a presentation in high school, but apparently, people didn't take climate change seriously in 2016. That's ridiculous!

@HelgaCavoli 9 ай бұрын

Love science and scientists. How far have come. ❤

@york1linny 9 ай бұрын

i love this channel so much, it's like gossiping but academically.

@trinathebookworm8977 9 ай бұрын

I'm surprised that more areas don't do this already

@houdannycomedymagic8642 9 ай бұрын

Amazing. This needs to become the new norm of the US and the world!

@differentvideos3419 8 ай бұрын

Your videos are crucial for listening and speking

@dru1032 6 ай бұрын

As a water treatment specialist, I want to add that while it is certainly technically possible to treat sewage into potable water it is a highly expensive process. Reverse osmosis membranes are expensive and require regular maintenance and high energy use. If we were to entirely depend on these systems for our drinking water, a lot of communities around the world (even those connected to existing wastewater networks) wouldn't be able to afford all the clean water they need. We still depend heavily on the free services that natural systems offer us.

@minhphapnguyen8286 7 ай бұрын

Video thật tuyệt vời, cảm ơn TED và tác giả

@Rihtainshtain 9 ай бұрын

It's interesting. Thanks.

@eddiesonnavarro8298 9 ай бұрын

Ted-ed always show us an amazing insight on what can humanity do for the better future of mankind, that we always hope for .

@carltonleboss 9 ай бұрын

It is very interesting, indeed

@commerceeducare1399 9 ай бұрын

Really amazing

@cuttingcoffee 9 ай бұрын

Thanks Ted Ed

@MuhammadSameerAliAnsari 9 ай бұрын

I always wanted to know this!

@redfoxnutella3926 8 ай бұрын

Wow i learned a lot from this video

@user-bp4nv3qp4d 9 ай бұрын

Very good, i like it

@darius2640 9 ай бұрын

some geniuses in my city decided to put the water treatment plant with 4 open top settling tanks just 3 kilometers from the medieval old town city center, peoples homes all around. luckily I dont live anywhere near there but I heard many complaints that every night they open up something and the horrendous smell comes out and covers the area not dispersing till the morning, I even experienced that when I drove past there with my car windows open one time

@hgrace0 9 ай бұрын

This seems to me like the best solution for moving forward. We need to invest in the future and water is essential for life

@SuratmoKrist 9 ай бұрын

Very inspiring theory

@ES11777 9 ай бұрын

Theory? It’s a reality

@MathewSan_ 9 ай бұрын

Great video 🔝👍

@marhec69 9 ай бұрын

Interesting!

@TagsRant 9 ай бұрын

This video motivates me to keep drinking it

@MuhammadSalarAyub 9 ай бұрын

you inspired me to make my own content like yours

@xotwod3254 9 ай бұрын

Nice

@chiyutosan 9 ай бұрын

We drink water straight from tap in SG. Amazing!!

@claymarzobestgoofy 9 ай бұрын

Awesome!

@andyvan6301 9 ай бұрын

what a perfect video to watch while im eating

@HieuVu-nh6ot 9 ай бұрын

Intriguing

@thebabyshpee6508 9 ай бұрын

Ted ed is incredible.

@ARGWARUS 9 ай бұрын

Cool

@Amitdas-gk2it 9 ай бұрын

Interesting

@missbookbunny 9 ай бұрын

I genuinely wish I hadn’t learned this, but i will accept it

@Rocky-qc5mq 8 ай бұрын

yay Tito Francis!!

@pocketfulofposies- 9 ай бұрын

hahah the twlight quote at the beginning caught me off guard, i was like "wait I've READ this somewhere!! i remember!"

@markedis5902 9 ай бұрын

Living in the Thames Water area we know that we’ve drunk the water several times before

@user-oq5pt5iz8m 9 ай бұрын

this is a good video

@anusham1753 9 ай бұрын

Can't imagine a world without having these treatment processes of wastewater😶

@xpndblhero5170 9 ай бұрын

This isn't as disturbing as knowing that all our water was once dinosaur pee..... 😂

@FedJimSmith 7 ай бұрын

let me feel you disturb further: our body parts are once Dinosaur's

@limerobloxgaming8567 7 ай бұрын

@@FedJimSmithnot true whatsoever

@FedJimSmith 7 ай бұрын

@@limerobloxgaming8567 probably is, dinasaurs , are cells are carbon based , and they are got rrcycled once they died

@everythingrandom1381 9 ай бұрын

I've honestly always wondered why more forms of biological water filtration haven't been used...after all, nature is the best solution.

@ralph7349 9 ай бұрын

That is what happens in the indirect potable reuse process

@sapphyrus 9 ай бұрын

Nature uses sun which is free to vaporize the wastewater and carry it over to a clean water reservoir. Humans trying to do the same would have to use much more energy to treat it the same way. We have to be more efficient than nature since nothing we do is entirely free. It's, effort, materials, energy that cannot be provided by natural systems automatically.

@modkip25 9 ай бұрын

not always

@duckymomo7935 5 ай бұрын

Filter feeders take hours to clean up water and also they have to actually involve aqua culture farmers to raise bivalves

@4.30gangCorpofficial 9 ай бұрын

Can we stop commenting on how the animations are great and look at how much you can actually learn from Ted Ed

@DaLing731 9 ай бұрын

Omg I’ve always wanted to google what happens to the water I flush but was always too lazy to do so

@alparslankorkmaz2964 9 ай бұрын

nice video

@TomTom_. 9 ай бұрын

Idk why I never thought we’re drinking the water we flush 😭

@skadoodskadad316 9 ай бұрын

Neat

@Clovis917 9 ай бұрын

Seriously!? woah!

@bzuscience 9 ай бұрын

After proper filtration and removal of particles, we can safely use this water

@LegoCookieDoggie 9 ай бұрын

And modern tests im assuming don't test for plastics or actually they do I just dont know if they are impossible to filter out like PfAs and BPA

@bluermias 9 ай бұрын

the title brought something to my attention that I never wanted to know and now Im scared to watch the video and think that they dont do enough to purify the water

@redeye117 9 ай бұрын

It be nice if we can channel water from our gutter during rains to be used like Gray water for our toilets and watering plants.

@jayloncharles2018 9 ай бұрын

Knows that it’ll probably change the way I think about water for the rest of my life but chooses to watch anyway.

@Snowman_44 9 ай бұрын

I've been wondering. Is water ever really wasted? Unless it's leaving the earth everyday, isn't water just going to be on earth because of water cycle? Evaporation, plant absorption etc. makes it seem like water isn't ever really wasted, just gone to a different place but will not leave earth. Am i wrong?

@secondsein7749 9 ай бұрын

The wastage is in the energy and effort it require to get those water to useable condition and you end up not using it well. The same reasoning applies to food. If you don't your cooked food and just throw them away, it doesn't leave the Earth, but it is still considered as wasted.

@yasminsultanu4614 9 ай бұрын

@@secondsein77491000% agree with this, and don't forget we can say it is a 'wasted' if we remember a lot of people out there still suffer from poor access to clean&safe drinking water.

@ghostderazgriz 9 ай бұрын

If we define waste by its ability to leave earth, technically, not even plastic waste is considered waste, so you can see why that definition does not work when defining the healthy use of waste and byproduct.

@einsteinboricua 9 ай бұрын

Waste is defined as something that is misused or lost. Water can, indeed, be wasted. We think water is an infinite resource, and with water cover well over 75% of Earth's surface, it's easy to arrive at that conclusion. However, glaciers can disappear; rivers can run dry; lakes can evaporate; and groundwater can be used all up. So the supply is finite for some places. If water in these places is used to keep the lawn green or wash a driveway rather than for essential needs, then that's water wasted, because if water runs out, it's rationed or must be gathered elsewhere.

@HIFLY01 9 ай бұрын

@@einsteinboricua if someone waters their grass or washes their car, its not wasted. Its used and put back into the environment, especially watering grass. Its being used and can still be collected later like car washes have drains or if you wash your car on a driveway you can let it evaporate. Might be wasted when comparing it to drinking but it's still being used and the water cycle will continue

@sherlock.holmes. 9 ай бұрын

Not gonnal lie, this motivates me to stop drink water

@Crackkka 9 ай бұрын

Ratio

@wabi6212 9 ай бұрын

Dehydration doesn’t seem so bad

@Zhm6802 8 ай бұрын

There is no escape; they use this water in agriculture, and juice companies also use it.

@ghostderazgriz 9 ай бұрын

why?

@buKzone 9 ай бұрын

It DOESN'T matter...ALL the liquid in the world.The water molecules has been in sh1t at some point...you have to eat sand if you wan't to avoid it. And it is tough to even find sand where nobody has shat before

@nguyennguyenthao9540 9 ай бұрын

sợ quá , uống vài cốc nước cho đỡ sợ

@kirbymarchbarcena 9 ай бұрын

Here in the Philippines, those who have water treatment facilities are companies selling drinking water that are either distilled or mineral.

@balkaransandhu3376 9 ай бұрын

I think they should also develop technologies to use and reuse atmospheric water. That seems more of a solution for ever increasing population.

@asankajayaweera7212 9 ай бұрын

A country like Singapore has to do such thing because the country doesn't have much natural resources. Thanks to its human resource however they overcame the challenge of water consumption.

@zodiacfml 9 ай бұрын

Singapore is S.E.A where we get plenty of rain. Why not setup infrastructure to capture and store rain water, helps with flooding too?

@reubenong8728 9 ай бұрын

Singapore is a city state. The size is not big enough to capture enough rainwater to meet the daily needs of 5.6 million people. In Singapore, we have 4 sources of drinking water (or known as taps), namely: water catchment area, imported, desalination and NEWater.

@miteshghadi3146 9 ай бұрын

Why they cannot use sea water directly instead of waste water

@reubenong8728 9 ай бұрын

@@miteshghadi3146 desalination is a far more energy intensive and less efficient since there are more salt in sea water than waste water. Additionally, there are adverse environmental impacts of desalination especially brine water being dumped back into the sea.

@zodiacfml 9 ай бұрын

@@miteshghadi3146 sea water has more minerals or salts that is harder to remove than any other large and cheap source of water

@dollsgamescorner 6 ай бұрын

Yes as a signporean we been educated with that knowledge that newwater is safe water. But hey, new water is much cleaner than normal water

@Manowar458 9 ай бұрын

Woah

@jaker3151 9 ай бұрын

Using drinkable water to flash the toilet seems like a waste. Especially when so many people in developing or poorer countries do not have access to clean water.

@coreysierchio4650 9 ай бұрын

When in doubt, dilution is the solution.

@AnimealPlanet 9 ай бұрын

That's why my water has different flavours each time. 🥴

@etaokha4164 4 ай бұрын

Water is life

@jamiegreenberg8476 9 ай бұрын

water goes through all this filtration yet the water in my college dorm room reaks of chlorine lol

@Phil-D83 9 ай бұрын

Ozone works well to disinfect water

@butlazgazempropan-butan11k87 9 ай бұрын

We have been dumping cleaned waste water into the rivers and then using the same water as tap water. This is nothing new

@ernestoescobar1967 9 ай бұрын

Each droplet has their story i guess

@BenChoke 9 ай бұрын

Everybody gangsta until the next time you will be thirsty

@SpaceNebula69 9 ай бұрын

i hope there isn’t any broken things happening and it gives toilet water

@sanjanaraghunath2067 9 ай бұрын

my whole life was a lie?

@joelkaben 9 ай бұрын

Unfortunately, yes.

@sir_albaxious1909 9 ай бұрын

Unfortunately sir, yes.

@nevergiveup5939 9 ай бұрын

Why are we here in this life, why do we die, what will happen to us after death?

@dumb4219 9 ай бұрын

Yu are finised

@mathsismyfavourite 9 ай бұрын

@@nevergiveup5939read islam read quran you will have the answer

@SauloTejada 9 ай бұрын

And what about the use of graphene? Graphene only allows the pass of water through their structure. Could graphene filters be an option?

@Electrobuzz17 4 ай бұрын

Late to the discussion but will share my thoughts. The production volume of graphene is so low its hardly being used except for demonstration purposes. Also graphene oxide filters have a tendency to destabilize when remaining in contact with water so there is risk involved. I dont thing we will see any large scale commercial applications of such filters in another decade still a lot of research needs to be done.

@hastsoul334neko 9 ай бұрын

singaporean here

@henogtjikune7483 2 ай бұрын

Windhoek was the first city to do this 😊

@user-go6il2tm4b Ай бұрын

Wow i wondered how water that we use is provided to us. How to sort tab water and toilet water. It was just mixed and filtered and disinfected. Haha. But i tend to believe the power of technology

@derkaiser420 9 ай бұрын

If you are ever worried about drinking waste water don't ever go on a ship. A cruise or navy ship will clean all the water on board without going to port.

@kurtiskurt1 9 ай бұрын

Hello

@JohnJohansen2 9 ай бұрын

0:43 Ask the astronauts and kosmonauts on ISS!

@aestheticbitch6509 9 ай бұрын

"THE WASTING OF FINITE RESOURCES IS EVERYONE'S BUSINESS." - Stephenie Meyer. Indeed.

@billie-J 9 ай бұрын

how bout microplastics found in water

@grapeshott 9 ай бұрын

If all the governments and billionaires seriously try somving drinking water problem, they could spend billions to improve sea water treatment. It could solve everything.